peters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

M. NELSON, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

BOAT-PROPELLER.

Speecation of Letters Patent N-o. 20,889, dated July 13|, 1858.

To aZZ whom it 'may concern.'

Be it known that I, MORTIMER NELSON, of the city, county, and St-ate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Propellers for Boat-s; and I do hereby declare thatl the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specificat-ion, in which- Figure l, is a plan view of my improvement as applied to a vessel, a portion of the guard being broken away. Fig. 2, is a side view of the same. Fig. 3, is a modification of my improvement.

Similar letters of reference, in each of the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

My invention relates to propellers fitted to reciprocate either partially or entirely submerged.

The nature of my improvement consists, lst, in rendering practicable and yadvantageous, the arrangement of two buckets or propeller frames, on each side of the boat, by attaching them to two supporting slides, and having buckets hinged on the inner side of one of the frames, and to the outer side of the other frame, this arrangement allowing the frames as they reciprocate, to move close alongside or in nearly the same longitudinal line with one another.

My invention consists, 2nd, in regulating the action of the propellers, in giving the vessel head or stern way, by means of a revcrsible or suitable stop, arranged in proper relation to buckets which are capable of folding' alongside the frame whether turned to the right or left on their axis, and are connected by a rod which is adapted for operating in combination with the same; said stop acting to prevent the buckets from turning more than ninety degrees or thereabout when working in either direction, as hereinafter specied.

To enable others, skilled in the art, to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawing A, is the vessel of any desired size or construction.

o, is a shaft receiving a rotary motion from any suitable engine and communicating motion to the propellers through the pitman c, cranks (Z, (Z, on the shaft Z), and the pitmen f, j", f, that connect to the propeller frames g, g, g. These are set and attached to slides It, and may be arranged side by side as shown, or be one in front of the other, fore and aft of the vessel and the connections to the engine are so arranged that one frame on each side moves toward the stern while the other moves forward. The frames g, g, are braced for increasing the strength and on said frames, the buckets z', z', are attached by suitable hinges on one of the vertical edges which allows said slats to shut up against their respective frame in either direction; 7c, la, are bars connecting the slats of each frame so that they move together, see Fig. l. In one or more of these bars 7c, I form a notch or recess j, j, and Z, is a vertical shaft so situated relatively with said notch y', that it is in the middle of the same when the slats are open and that said shaft itself will not prevent the said slats from shutting down in either direction when a certain stop is not in action, and to sustain the said slats at right angles to the frame I introduce the blocking piece m, on t-he said shaft Z, of about half the length of said notch j, so that the end of the notch takes the end of t-he blocking piece at the same time the slats are at lright angles to the frames, and by turning the shaft Z, so as to make the blocking piece m, act on the other side, the propeller will be reversed in its action. The said shaft Z, of each frame g, is extended above the water line and provided with a suitable crank handle or other device by which it is to be moved for reversing the action of the propeller, and latches may be used to hold said handle in place. The slats or buckets z', z', as they shut up against the frames g, press onto slender springs to relieve any jar and also to force out the slats when they begin to move in the opposite direction; catches, cams or other means may be used for throwing out these buckets. It will be apparent that the cranks (Z, (Z, might be shorter and formed double so as to receive the pitmen f, f, y", f, and move the same by a rotary motion given to the shaft Instead of having buckets only on one side of the propeller frames, buckets may be placed on each side of both frames as shown in Fig. 3. In this case, however', the frames would operate better if placed at the two ends of the boat in the same or nearly the same horizontal line and the gearing of the engine adapted for driving the same.

Having thus described the construction of my improved propeller and shown the operation of the separate parts, I remark that by the device shown I have a continued propulsion acting upon a large body of water as a resistance in moving the vessel, and I have but little surface for resistance on the return stroke, and besides this, the edges of the frames &c. are to be beveled off to present as little resistance as possible. I have no loss of power by backwater and there is no expenditure of power in entering or leaving the water as is the case with the paddle wheel.

What I claini as iny invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The vertical buckets, when arranged so that they shall be capable of folding against the side of the propeller traine, whether turned on their axis to the right or left, in combination with a reversible stop, which will, after lbeing adjusted, hold the buckets in a position for acting against the .water during the time the engine piston is inaking a stroke to effect the propulsion of the boat either back or forward, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The arrangement of the buckets on the inner side of one of the propeller frames and on the outer side of the other, in combination with the supporting slides; constructed and arranged substantially as and for the 30 purposes set forth.

' M. NELSON.

lVitnesses:

Gr. YORKE AT LEE, I-I. H. YOUNG. 

